Mindy Segal's Hot Chocolate - Chicago

[ronnie_suburban]

I remember Dish reporting the news about Hot Chocolate some time back and I recently read a review at WLS TV's web site which seems encouraging:

Mindy Segal is one of Chicago's great pastry chefs. With stints at Charlie Trotter's, Marche and mk, she's certainly comfortable working with sugar, butter and cream. Just a few weeks ago, she opened her own place that offers high-quality sweets and savories. But with more than 20 desserts to choose from, it's clear where her passion lies.

Don't judge a restaurant by its name. HotChocolate is the latest addition to a burgeoning stretch of North Damen in Bucktown but Chef and Owner Mindy Segal has created a comfy neighborhood joint, where you can get a glass of wine and upscale snacks like a Kobe beef steak sandwich with caramelized onions, watercress and gorgonzola on a toasted ciabatta roll.

Has anyone been yet? It sounds like a great concept.

=R=

[Peter]

Went last Friday, after dinner...sat at the bar for drinks and dessert. We got there about 10:30pm and the place was rocked!! No open seats at all, which was incredible since on our drive there...we saw plenty of empty seats elsewhere.

Okay, first impressions...the place is very well put together, it has this great brown/beige color scheme that just screams chocolate, and some beautiful wooodwork too.

The staff was very friendly and accomodating even though they were obviously slammed...

We had a nice drink off the dessert wine menu and a hot chocolate, both great and perfect matches. The desserts are composed and beautiful, not comfy chocolate feel, but very upscale. We had the chocolate chocolate dessert which consisted of 2-3 different concepts put together (I don't remember what!!), and the brioche donuts with chocolate dipping sauce -- Great!

We plan on going back for dinner...but go early or go late...or make a reservation!

[tammylc]

That's great news. My visit to mk was disappointing, except for dessert, which rocked, and had me wondering if I could go back just for dessert some time. Nice to know I don't have to. (Not that I get to eat in Chicago much at all, but a girl can dream.)

[BTR]

Peter, do you recall if there were many, or any, vegetarian options on the menu? I really want to go here, and it's in the neighborhood, but my girlfriend eats no meat.

[Sweet Willie]

So I couldn’t help myself and just had to try Hot Chocolate, thanks to Ronnie’s awesome power of persuasion.

Started w/mussels done in a green curry, diced red pepper, creamy broth that I’m pretty sure contained coconut milk. Mussels were quite good and fresh, diced red pepper was not necessary except as eye appeal. The creamy curry was very good to dip the piece of crusty bread into.

Next was Napoleon of Canasta Pardo consisting of crispy phyllo, caramelized apples and a date puree with shards of sharp, rich, moist cheddar cheese. The cheese was heavenly and as I ate, I came to the conclusion that I wanted only the cheese (and some more of that crusty bread). I think next time I will go with the cheese selection.

Entrée of Kobe Beef. Unless the Gov has relaxed their laws, I did not think that true Japanese Kobe was allowed into the US, so I’ll assume it was Waygu or some American Kobe. Entrée consisted of seared Kobe skirt steak, string potato fries, olive oil roasted grape tomatoes w/a creamy mini cup of a cheese sauce not mentioned on the menu but I’m guessing some sort of gorgonzola. I was fortunate to have Kobe beef in Japan a few times but it was not skirt steak, it just melted in my mouth. The Kobe effect with this dish, a semi tough skirt steak was lost on me. None the less it is a good cut of beef and was even better w/a bit of the cheese sauce on it.

With all that I only had room to try a small hot chocolate called a Black & Tan which is 1/3 hot fudge and 2/3 medium hot chocolate. Quite tasty, I wish I had room for the Banana, which was graham cracker tuiles layered w/caramelized bananas, roasted banana cream, butterscotch, hot fudge and a “one banana, two banana” surprise.

Other starters included: Rabbit Rillette, Ruree (puree?) of Asparagus, Chopped Tuna Salad, Roasted Beet & Goat Cheese salad, Mixed Greens Salad.

Other Entrées included: Brie in Brioche served warm with a salad of seasonal mushrooms, asparagus, and parsley. Tuna Melt sandwich with mayo, wild capers, roasted red peppers, havarti cheese on toasted ciabatta. Chicken and Bacon sandwich w/avocado and honey mustard aioli.

As you can imagine with Segal, there are a ton of desserts and many people were ordering just the sweets.

Don’t sit at the bar if you don’t have to, I found the chairs uncomfortable.

The only real negative was the fork design. It just never fit well in my hand. First time I’ve ever had problems with utensils!

Hot Chocolate

1747 North Damen

Chicago

773.489.1747

[ronnie_suburban]

The only real negative was the fork design. It just never fit well in my hand. First time I’ve ever had problems with utensils!

←

There is an easy solution for this . . . just ask my 8 year-old son

Thanks for the report, Willie. I can't wait to try it out.

=R=

[ronnie_suburban]

Having now been to Hot Chocolate a couple of times, I have to say that it's my absolute favorite place in the city for dessert. When I was last there in October I enjoyed several terrific desserts and a cup of 'medium' hot chocolate that was possibly the most delicious confection I'd ever tasted.

Earlier this week, I went back and confirmed for myself that the hot chocolate at Hot Chocolate is legendary. Happily, and even though we were pretty full from dinner, we enjoyed a bunch of other treats that were of equal caliber.

The meyer lemon 'split' was comprised of lemon curd atop a delicious piece of shortbread. It was topped with 3 sorbets: pineapple, melon and -- my favorite of the 3 -- tart cherry. The 'split' was served in a large, low bowl which also contained bits of diced pineapple, kiwi and passionfruit.

Next up, we shared an order of the outstanding warm brioche donuts. The rich and tender donuts and their accompanying 'holes' were dusted with crystal sugar and served with a ramekin of hot chocolate fudge (for dipping) and a few pieces of equisitely rendered caramel corn. This was a great presentation and a fantastic combination of flavors and textures.

My favorite of the 3 plated desserts we tried was the Banana (Volume VI). This was stellar. This absolutely decadant piece of banana cream pie had an inspired and delectable crust of brown butter and graham cracker. The pie was served with banana sherbet and a sublime combination of butterscotch and hot fudge sauces. This was the best banana dessert I've ever eaten. The crust of the pie was perfect. Not only did the brown butter deliver a flavor that worked perfectly with the banana elements but it was nice and thick and provided a great foundation for the dish.

Lastly, we tried every single ice cream in the house. On this night, we were served a long plate containing 8 different flavored scoops, each paired with a delicious, accompanying cookie. We were pretty full from dinner when we arrived at HC, so you can probably imagine how we were feeling by this time. Still, I forged ahead, tasting each of the wondrous flavors in front of me. They were all terrific (it's ice cream, after all) but the 2 which really stood out for me were the salty caramel and strawberry preserve. The strawberry preserve was so good it made me wonder why anyone bothers with regular strawberry ice cream.

I've yet to hit Hot Chocolate for the savory side of their menu but it also looks great, so I plan on doing so soon. And their brunch offerings are quite tempting as well. They also offer some small-brewery, individually-produced food and beer pairings that look fantastic. These are brews which are designed specifically to pair up with food. Hot Chocolate creates the pairings, which are promising, to say the least.

I cannot believe, considering how wonderful it is, that so many months had passed between my visits to Hot Chocolate. I don't think a week passed when I didn't think about my first visit. I'm so glad molto e suggested it (he'd never been there before) because it had been way too long for me. I was thrilled to return and learn with certainty that my first visit had been no fluke. Hot Chocolate is great and really deserves a dedicated trip. My experiences at Hot Chocolate have been compelling.

=R=

Hot Chocolate

1747 N. Damen

Chicago, IL 60647

773 489-1747

[molto e]

Having now been to Hot Chocolate a couple of times, I have to say that it's my absolute favorite place in the city for dessert.  When I was last there in October I enjoyed several terrific desserts and a cup of 'medium' hot chocolate that was possibly the most delicious confection I'd ever tasted.

Earlier this week, I went back and confirmed for myself that the hot chocolate at Hot Chocolate is legendary.  Happily, and even though we were pretty full from dinner, we enjoyed a bunch of other treats that were of equal caliber.

The meyer lemon 'split' was comprised of lemon curd atop a delicious piece of shortbread.  It was topped with 3 sorbets: pineapple, melon and -- my favorite of the 3 -- tart cherry.  The 'split' was served in a large, low bowl which also contained bits of diced pineapple, kiwi and passionfruit.

Next up, we shared an order of the outstanding warm brioche donuts.  The rich and tender donuts and their accompanying 'holes' were dusted with crystal sugar and served with a ramekin of hot chocolate fudge (for dipping) and a few pieces of equisitely rendered caramel corn.  This was a great presentation and a fantastic combination of flavors and textures.

My favorite of the 3 plated desserts we tried was the Banana (Volume VI).  This was stellar.  This absolutely decadant piece of banana cream pie had an inspired and delectable crust of brown butter and graham cracker.  The pie was served with banana sherbet and a sublime combination of butterscotch and hot fudge sauces.  This was the best banana dessert I've ever eaten.  The crust of the pie was perfect.  Not only did the brown butter deliver a flavor that worked perfectly with the banana elements but it was nice and thick and provided a great foundation for the dish.

Lastly, we tried every single ice cream in the house.  On this night, we were served a long plate containing 8 different flavored scoops, each paired with a delicious, accompanying cookie.  We were pretty full from dinner when we arrived at HC, so you can probably imagine how we were feeling by this time.  Still, I forged ahead, tasting each of the wondrous flavors in front of me.  They were all terrific (it's ice cream, after all) but the 2 which really stood out for me were the salty caramel and strawberry preserve.  The strawberry preserve was so good it made me wonder why anyone bothers with regular strawberry ice cream.

I've yet to hit Hot Chocolate for the savory side of their menu but it also looks great, so I plan on doing so soon.  And their brunch offerings are quite tempting as well.  They also offer some small-brewery, individually-produced food and beer pairings that look fantastic.  These are brews which are designed specifically to pair up with food.  Hot Chocolate creates the pairings, which are promising, to say the least.

I cannot believe, considering how wonderful it is, that so many months had passed between my visits to Hot Chocolate.  I don't think a week passed when I didn't think about my first visit.  I'm so glad molto e suggested it (he'd never been there before) because it had been way too long for me.  I was thrilled to return and learn with certainty that my first visit had been no fluke.  Hot Chocolate is great and really deserves a dedicated trip.  My experiences at Hot Chocolate have been compelling.

=R=

Hot Chocolate

1747 N. Damen

Chicago, IL 60647

773 489-1747

←

I have been sweet for Mindy Segal's desserts ever since my first bite of one when she was the Pastry Chef at MK. Hot Chocolate is the only place in town that delivers this kind of dessert artistry. Here are the photos that accompany Ronnie's post (each dessert was split so that we could enjoy our own):

Lemon- meyer lemon "split"; lemon curd shortcake, seasonal sorbet (pinapple, sour cherry and melon), whole milk frozen yogurt with fresh seasonal fruits

This was a refreshing dessert with bright fruit flavors

Warm Brioche Donuts- warm, delicious served with hot fudge

The donuts were fantastic! They were made to order with the little donut holes and awesome caramel corn.

Banana (Volume VI)- banana cream pie with caramelized bananas, brown butter graham cracker, banana sherbet, butterscotch and hot fudge

The various forms of banana were delicious sitting in the insane brown butter graham cracker crust.

ICE CREAMS and SORBETS- Tasting of housemade ice creams and sorbets

Raspberry Sorbet with Raspberry Rugulah, Banana Sherbet with Chocolate Chip , Chocolate Sorbet with Brownie, Salted Caramel Ice Cream with Oatmeal Raisin, Mint Fudge Brownie with Mint Chocolate Sandwich, Strawberry Preserve with Lemon cookie, Cinnamon with Apricot Jam cookie, ???

Classic line of the night:

" Ronnie S., I am really full lets blow off the ice cream"

"Nay, it's ice cream it will melt"

Mindy's desserts are well balanced with inventive flavor combinations. I will be back to try out her savory menu and the Sunday brunch looks amazing.

Good Eating,

Molto E

Edited July 17, 2006 by molto e (log)

[ulterior epicure]

My, my - it looks like Elliot and Ronnie have been quite busy lately!

I have only been to Hot Chocolate once - for brunch. But, that didn't stop me from trying some ice creams (though not as many as you two had) and their flight of hot chocolates. I must say, I'm pretty much a dark chocolate person and out of preference didn't care for the milk or the white.

Does anyone know what kind of chocolates Segal uses?

[tammylc]

I have only been to Hot Chocolate once - for brunch. 

←

[Alex]

I have only been to Hot Chocolate once - for brunch. 

←

This makes me hopeful that I wil indeed be able to sneak in a visit to Hot Chocolate on my too short trip to Chicago later this year. With hoped for dinners at Schwa and Alinea, I didn't figure a late night dessert trip would be plausible. What are Hot Chocolate's hours?

←

Hours

[tammylc]

Interesting. The "about us" page mentions lunch, and there's a lunch menu given, but the hours page only lists dinner and brunch.

Oh - and thanks for the link - I figured there must be webpage, but I wasn't having any luck finding it!

Edited July 18, 2006 by tammylc (log)

[Alex]

Interesting.  The "about us" page mentions lunch, and there's a lunch menu given, but the hours page only lists dinner and brunch.

Oh - and thanks for the link - I figured there must be webpage, but I wasn't having any luck finding it!

←

Metromix doesn't list lunch hours, either.

Just looking at it, I'd eat that ice cream tasting for lunch, brunch, AND dinner. Breakfast, too.

[ronnie_suburban]

Classic line of the night:

" Ronnie S., I am really full lets blow off the ice cream"

"Nay, it's ice cream it will melt"

←

Hey! I'm not the one who ordered the 8 scoops of ice cream in the first place. I was just trying save you the embarrassment of cancelling the order.

=R=